Directors Marcus McKenzie and Daniel Principe’s short Last Meal has been acquired worldwide by VICE Media as part of the second season of documentary series The Short List with Suroosh Alvi.
From Adelaide-based production company Cinemache, the film investigates the morality of capital punishment through the final feasts of death row prisoners.
Narrated by Hugh Ross (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), the hybrid doc blends stylised “food porn” with curated archival footage of serial killers, terrorists and the wrongly accused, shining a light on the individuals and institutions meting out capital punishment.
Last Meal, produced by Danielle Tinker with McKenzie and Principe, was funded via the joint Short Film Production Initiative between the South Australian Film Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival and Panavision.
It premiered at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival, going on to screen as part of Tribeca at Home, the online component of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, as well as Calgary International Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival. The film was awarded Best Documentary Short at BendFilm Festival and the Director’s Choice Award from the Woods Hole Film Festival.
Last Meal was chosen for the The Short List by VICE founder Suroosh Alvi, who searched the world to curate a collection of eight ‘must-see’ short documentaries.
“We’re thrilled to be rolling out season 2 of The Short List and putting a spotlight on incredibly diverse filmmakers and films from around the world,” Alvi said.
“These are important films that VICE would have made if we could have, but we didn’t. So we decided to create a platform for the next wave of talented filmmakers.”
Premiering globally in early 2022, the episode will include the full film accompanied by Alvi in conversation with McKenzie and Principe.
“We are excited that Last Meal has been selected by Suroosh to be part of the second season of The Short List. Our goal with this film has always been to share its message with a broad and youthful audience, so teaming with VICE and its powerful worldwide distribution networks offers us an incredible opportunity,” McKenzie and Principe said in a joint statement.